U.S. stock futures rise as ECB buys bonds

KateGibson

NickGodt

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stock futures climbed Friday, with Wall Street readying for an opening bounce following two days of losses, as investors scrutinized Italian and Spanish bond yields after the European Central Bank reportedly bought the debt of both nations.

Japan’s trade figures

Japan swung back to having a trade surplus in September, but signs of a slowdown are expected in its October trade data.

The central bank purchased Spanish and Italian debt in an effort to cap yields, at least three people with knowledge of the trades told Reuters.

On a related note, European officials could start discussions with the International Monetary Fund on a means for the European Central Bank to lend to the International Monetary Fund in the event of sovereign rescues in the region, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Futures for the S&P 500 index
SP1Z
rose 9.6 points to 1,224.40, while those for the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJ1Z
gained 81 points to 11,820. Futures for the Nasdaq 100 added 13.25 points to 2,281.50.

Worries over the euro zone deepened Thursday, as markets sold down Spanish and Italian government bonds and their yields rose. Stocks in Europe and in the U.S. fell sharply with the S&P 500
SPX, +0.59%
dropping 1.7%, the Dow industrials
DJIA, +0.72%
losing 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite
COMP, +0.50%
sliding 2%.

For investors, the U.S. unit has served as a safe haven, especially against euro-zone turmoil recently, while a weakening dollar encourages risk taking.

Speaking at a banking forum Friday, European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi sought to put pressure on regional leaders to move more quickly on implementing changes to the European Financial Stability Facility, the euro-zone bailout fund.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron were due to meet to discuss the European Union as well.

A Friday bounceback on Wall Street would take some of the sting out of a week of heavy selling in stocks that’s seen the S&P 500 shed 3.8% and Germany’s Dax 30 index (DAX) lose 3.9%.

With the crisis in Europe unresolved, investors were further spooked this week by a report by the Fitch Ratings agency that outlined U.S. banks’ exposure to European sovereign debt.

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